By Benjamin GroffMedia© | benandsteve.com | 2025 Truth Endures©
Chapter Eight: The Devil Knows the Way Out
The blast had sealed the main vault door and collapsed part of the tunnel behind them. Smoke choked the air. Brick and metal groaned under stress. Chester blinked through blood and dust, pulling Wren up from the rubble.
“You alright?”
He asked, coughing.
“Been worse,”
Wren muttered, cradling her left arm.
“Dislocated, not broken. I’ll pop it back.”
Chester pulled out a penlight and scanned the room.
“No exit. That was the only way in.”
Wren smiled through the pain.
“You thought it was.”
She limped to the far wall. A section of decorative tiling was there—old, Spanish-style. It jutted out from the stone like it didn’t belong. She knocked three times in a rhythm that echoed deeper than it should have.
A hollow click responded.
“Cain didn’t build the vault himself. He took it from a man who did. The original owner had escape routes.”
She traced a tile shaped like a broken star and twisted it counterclockwise. With a faint hiss, the tile wall slid inward, revealing a narrow stone chute, half-collapsed and riddled with centipedes.
Chester stared into the black.
“I don’t suppose you brought rope,”
He said.
“Nope.”
“Alright then,”
He grunted, and they vanished into the dark.
In the Streets Above
Petal stood at her shop counter grinding roots when the front door exploded inward.
She ducked instinctively, drawing her old revolver, but it was too late.
Two men in black tactical gear moved in fast, grabbed her arms, and yanked her across the counter. The third figure entered last—calm, silent.
Mr. Gallow.
He picked up a vial from the shelf, sniffed it, and set it down.
“I’ve read your name,”
He said, voice flat.
“You’re a known associate of Wren. Harboring her. Aiding a rogue federal.”
Petal spat blood and smiled.
“You got a badge?”
“No. I have jurisdiction.”
He signaled.
The men dragged her out.
They disappeared down the street. Julep Jake watched from his cell window. He was whittling a miniature guillotine from an old broom handle.
“And now the harvest begins,”
He muttered.
The Long Climb
Chester and Wren emerged two hours later through a rusted maintenance grate behind the abandoned Serenity Theater. They were scratched, covered in brick dust, and exhausted—but alive.
Wren wiped grime from her face.
“He set us up. Knew we were coming.”
Chester nodded grimly.
“Means we rattled him.”
She held up the two ledgers she’d saved—one in each hand.
“He loses if these go public.”
Chester took them, tucking them into his coat.
“Then let’s make sure they do.”
Suddenly—gunfire cracked in the distance. Three pops.
Wren froze.
“That was near Petal’s.”
Chester’s face hardened.
“We’re not the only ones he’s playing.”
They moved quickly down the alleys. Even as they ran, Wren stopped cold. She saw the mark scorched onto the alley wall: a circle with a horizontal line through it.
She grabbed Chester’s arm.
“That’s not Cain’s symbol.”
“What is it?”
Wren’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“It’s Gallow’s.”
Chester turned, scanning the rooftops.
“Then we’re out of time.”
What exactly did the symbol mean? Chester had the answer—or at least a regulation book with the answer—tucked away in the saddlebags on his moped. The problem? He didn’t bring it with him. And it’s too far to walk back now. Truth is, he hasn’t laid eyes on that moped since he rolled into town. So, is it hidden so well that he forgot where it is? Or is he protecting a strategic location he’s not ready to reveal? With only two chapters left, the Marshal better get moving!
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